While countless children await the coming of the Easter Bunny, dogs had their day on Saturday as the Fox Valley Park District offered its second annual Doggie Easter Egg Hunt from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Lincoln Park Dog Park in Aurora.
For a $5 admission, dogs were allowed to roam throughout the park at South Russell Avenue and Lakewood Place looking for plastic eggs filled with dog treats.
Other features of the event included photos with the Easter Bunny, a best-costume prize and goodie bags to the first 50 participants.
Andie Mach O’Niel of Batavia dropped by the park to enjoy the Easter egg hunt with her dog.
“I am very excited,” she said. “I look forward to any dog events that are in the area because I love spoiling my little girl. She’s my baby.”
She said an Easter egg hunt for dogs “isn’t something too outside the box.”
“I love seeing this,” she said.
Courteney Tillman, recreation supervisor of youth and general programs for the Fox Valley Park District, said the event drew just over 30 dogs the first time it was held last year.
“We wanted to do this because there’s been nothing done like this by the park district. I wanted to bring fun and something to the community. In this area, there are a lot of dog owners,” Tillman said before the event. “This gives people a chance to bring their pet and see the Easter Bunny and there are a lot of dogs in this location. I live in the area and have two myself.”
A total of more than 100 eggs filled with dog treats awaited participants, which Tillman said are sometimes pried open on the spot.
“Some of the dogs will grab the egg and open it up, but for most of them their owner just grabs it and puts it in the dog’s Easter basket,” she said. “There are also five golden eggs which – if the dog finds them – they’ll get a prize.”
Attendance was up this year just a tick as 35 dogs came with their owners to the park in Aurora on Saturday. Once the dogs were allowed in the park, they and their owners made short work of finding the eggs.
Antoinette Krugler of Batavia brought her dog River, a Rough Collie, who was ready to begin the hunt for Easter eggs.
“He’s very food-driven so I’m sure when he finds an egg, he’s likely to try and open it,” Krugler said just before heading out into the park.
Dena Hasler of Elk Grove Village said despite living quite far away from the event, that when it comes to her dog, traveling a bit for some fun is worth it.
“I know this is a little out-of-the-box, but I love it. I’ll do anything for her,” Hasler said about her dog Toula. “She is 13 and a poodle mix. I take her every year to get her picture with the Easter Bunny, but we’ve never done an Easter egg hunt, so we had to come.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
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